Improvement in skirt-protectors



JULIA c. uv'anmont.

Skirt-Protectors. NO. 143,361. PatentedSeptemberO,1873.

UNITED STA Es PATENT OFFICE.

JULIA o. LIVERMORE, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SKIRT-PROTECTORS.-

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 143,361, dated September 30, 1873; application filed August 1, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JULIA CABOI LIVER- MORE, of Boston, of the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Skirt-Protector and do hereby declare the same to be fully described in thefollowing specification and represented in the accompanying drawing, which denotes a perspective View of it. I

The skirt-protector is composed of a strip, A, of water-proof cloth or suitable material, of proper width, a belt or waistband, B, and a series of bands or tapes, G O, and a furcated connection-band, D, the latter being shaped like the letter Y and arranged, as shown, between the two front bands 0 O, and connected to them and the part A, all being as represented,

In order to apply the protector to a person, it becomes necessary for the two front bands to be arranged at a greater distance apart than the others. Therefore, to afford proper support for that portion of the part A which comes between them, I use the Y-piece D, fastened thereto, and the two bands, and arranged therewith, as shown. The waistband may have a buckle or other proper fastening. Furthermore, the strip A, at or near its lower edge,is furnished with a series of eyelets, a

p a, or fastenings for fixing it to the skirt of a dress.

Without the Y-piece, or furoated connection-band D, the strip A would be liable to bag down, so as to catch the foot of a person while walking or going up stairs; and therefore it is a very important feature in the construction of the protector, as it enables the protector to open sufficiently to be drawn upward over the under-clothing; and when the protector is buckled on the body, such part D operates, as set forth, to prevent the sagging of the part A, which would be liable to cause accident to the wearer.

I am aware that a strip of cloth folded along its middle has been applied to a skirt by being doubled around its lower edge and extended upward, both inside and outside of the skirt, and connected thereto by hooks, (such being as described in the United States Patent No. 35,026 and I make no claim thereto, or to its arrangement with a skirt to protect it from dirt or water liable to get upon it while the wearer may be walking, especially during rainy weather, or while the ground or pavement may be wet or muddy.

In carrying out my invention I have dispensed with the internal connections for fastening the strip or guard to a skirt, and, in place thereof, I have substituted the waistband or belt, and the straps or broad tapes depending therefrom, and fastened to the i11- ner edge of the guard-strip, such being to overcome the objections incident to fastening the guard-stripto the inner surface of the skirt. In the first place, it is by no means an easy or convenient matter for a lady to hook the guard to the inner side of her skirt, and, besides, it requires the consumption of much time for its accomplishment; and, after being so attached, it is very liable to become easily detached while the party may be walking.

The waistband and pendent straps admit of the skirt-protector being very quickly, or very much more quickly, pplied to a person, and, with the furcated connection D, constitute a sure means of holding up the guard; and, besides, they relieve the skirt of half the weight of the guard, the other half being sustained by the waistband.

. I make no claim to a skirt-protector made and applied to a skirt as represented in the United States Patent N 0. 96,797, in which case the suspension straps or bands and waistband are arranged outside of the skirt to be protected.

When arranged on the outside of a dressskirt, the straps or bands are not only unsightly in appearance, but liable to catch upon things in the vicinity of the wearer of the protector, or which she may be in the act of passing, or to incommode her in other respects; but when the skirt-protector is disposed underneath the skirt with the part A, also partly on the inner side and partly on the outer side of it, and fastened or hooked to it on its outer side, the bands 0 and the belt are covered by the skirts and the latter, at their lower or and the furcatedi front connecting piece D, exposedvparts, are held within the bag or part all constructed and arranged as specified and A of the protector, and thus the parts 0 C shown.

are prevented from being caught or incorn- JULIA CABOT LIVERMORE. moding the wearer as explained.

I claim Witnesses:

The skirt-protector consisting of the Waist- R. H. EDDY,

band B, bag portion A, connecting-bands O, J. It. SNOW. 

